Das goldene Schwert des Königstigers

"One-Armed Swordsman" is an early work of Chang Cheh, the practical godfather of kung fu cinema. Without wasting any time with describing the plot I'll dive into what I liked and didn't like.

This one is chalk full of great themes: ascension to manhood, honour, revenge, jealousy, hatred, redemption. Fairly unique in this genre is the love story between Fang Gang and Hsiao Man, which is actually quite touching.

I found it interesting, when the rival clan threatens Fang Gang's former teacher and school, how he has to choose between the martial way (protecting his teacher, seeking revenge and entering the cycle of violence again), and settling down in a comfortable life with Hsaio Man. The idea that the only thing that can save the school is Fang Gang's broken sword, that his father left him upon dying, was poetic.

The plot has all the makings of a great martial arts film. Where the film falls down though, is in the badly choreographed sword fights and really cheap sets and bad lighting. The swordfights are often wooden and slow.

I ask anyone who has raved about this film here, to look at the choreography critically... it does not come close to the best in the genre.

Granted, the fact that it is an early work (1967) probably explains this, but still does not change it.

I'm not a big expert on Hong Kong cinema, or Martial Arts movies, but I've seen my fair share of Kong Fu flicks, and this remarkable picture is definitely among the best. What it has going for it is first and foremost a great story about a one-handed swordsman who wants to quit the "Martial Arts business" but has one last debt of honor to repay. The film sets up its characters and plot in great detail, so we are involved from the outset. The villains are ferocious and the sword battles (this one has only sword battles, not actual Kong Fu) are great. It's a vicious, violent film, but also very tender. Acting is very good for this kind of picture. The heroes are heroic, the bad guys are sneering. Production design is also top-notch, great scenery and props, and be sure to watch it in "SHAWSCOPE" for its Widescreen glory.

We are here in the mythology of the one-armed swordsman. Jimmy Wang Yu is this one. He loses his arm to a woman who loves him and hates him at the same time. He leaves his Kung Fu school to live in anonymity. But his past will force him to put forward his talent because of a woman.

The scheme is ultra classic. And the form too. Chang Cheh will make a more violent version of the film with the brilliant La Rage Du Tigre (1971) which will be much more violent, furious and masculine (the women have no influence on the story) and also less mawkish than this one which lacks subversion in an unsurprising framework. Jimmy Wang Yu does what he can, but he is not really helped, supported, transported, by the other actors who are a bit bland or else in sneers, nor by the two actresses (for the only two female characters) who are in the embarrassed pettiness. The fights are not particularly memorable, except for the super villain (whom we discover at the end) with his particular tools and his secret boot that allow us to get out of the routine of the usual fights for this kind of production.

THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (1967) is often cited as Hong Kong's first real martial arts film, i.e. with emphasis on martial techniques, styles and training rather than on clan politics, corrupt officials, and court intrigue. Star Jimmy Wang Yu is much more intense here than in most of his previous starring roles (e.g. TWIN SWORDS and TRAIL OF THE BROKEN BLADE) and his fighting is much more ferocious. Overall, this is a bleak, somber film, with occasional tearjerking and melodramatic moments. The darkly handsome Wang Yu brings the right tone of brooding and melancholy and makes the climactic moments of violent outburst quite satisfying.

Wang Yu plays Fang Kang, a martial arts student whose right arm is chopped off in a sudden confrontation with his master's impetuous daughter and then must learn how to fight with his left. He runs off and finds a simple farm girl, Hsiao Man (Chiao Chiao), to take him in and care for him. She has a half-burned old swordfighting manual which she gives to Fang to teach himself left-hand sword techniques. Her father had died after a sword fight (over the book) and her mother had started to burn it. Her mother had warned her to never fall for a sword fighter and she urges Fang never to fight. However, after he is humiliated by some martial arts students when they try to flirt with Hsiao Man, Fang resolves to fight again.

Fang is forced into action when his former master, Teacher Chi, and his students are attacked by Long-Armed Devil who has called on evil swordsmen, including Smiling Face and his two loutish students, to raid Teacher Chi's school during Chi's retirement party. Long Arm gets things rolling by sending his two henchmen to kill any students they can waylay. The henchmen have a sword-lock on their swords with which they can trap the opponents' swords and slay the opponent with a right hand dagger to the belly. Ultimately, only Wang Yu's short, broken sword is capable of counteracting the sword-lock.

Wang Yu returned to the role of Fang in THE RETURN OF THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (1968), which is even more focused on swordfights and bloodshed (and is also reviewed on this site). He later left Shaw Bros. to star in ONE-ARMED BOXER (1971), which, along with his last Shaw Bros. film, THE CHINESE BOXER (1970), was a seminal film in the budding kung fu genre.

Theater acting was very noticeable in this production, and the practical effects were as well, theater-like down to the last scene and the formulaic combats of the "this one person must die to advance the plot" variety.

Overal, a bunch of joyous kung-fu-ish nonsense - you will see what I mean, intertwined with a very theatrical drama featuring specific postures for different emotions and a bunch of men whose traditional theatrical exaggerated angular eye and flowing beards makeup probably contributed quite a lot to the extreme insistence of Western popular media on "slant-eyes" and "fu manchu" stereotypes, without understanding that a lot of the Shaw Bros movies of teh time featured classical Chinese theater conventions.

Overall, not a bad movie for a relaxing evening which brings some unintentional laughs.